New Battery

I spent the later part of the afternoon helping my friend Eric, who is in town for just a few days, get a new battery for his car. First we had to hook up with Matt, who kindly lent his jumper cables. Then, once Eric's car was running, I followed him to Sears just in case. While the old battery was being swapped for a new one, we wandered through the Tucson Mall. I don't normally like malls, but it was actually a lot of fun. I've missed hanging out with him. We really enjoy being flâneurs together. Most of the time it's as the virtual sort. But today we took our internet strolls of a few years back to the sort of passages Walter Benjamin wrote about in his Arcades Project. Then we went to Skylar's favorite restaurant Zona 78 for a leisurely dinner, after which he drove me home, coming inside to say hello. It had been nearly a year since she last saw him, so she was really pleased. He and his wife have spent more time in our house than anyone else in Tucson. And Skylar loves them both, like tommix, in that way kids do when they've known someone as long as they can remember. It was a peaceful way to end the day and left me feeling, despite the onset of my annual laryngitis, like I was the one who had had a new battery installed.